Etymologically
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cent

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sɑ̃/[1]
  • IPA: /sɑ̃t‿/[1]

Forms

cent (plural cents when multiplied and not followed by another numeral)[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin centum (“hundred; a great number”).[3][4][5][6][7] Wiktionary traces the Latin word through Proto-Italic to Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm.[1] Rey cites its correspondents Sanskrit शत (śatám), Lithuanian šimtas, German hundert, English hundred and Ancient Greek ἑκατόν (hekatón).[4]

Cognate with Italian cento, Old Occitan cen, Catalan cent, Spanish ciento and Portuguese cento.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion of Clermont (late 10th century) uses it as a cardinal number, ten times ten; the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1040) already has it for an indefinite large number.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The Chanson de Roland has Set cenz chamels and the noun in a millers e a cent, the forerunner of des mille et des cents.[9][4] It served as an ordinal, “hundredth”, in dates (1243), and un cent “a hundred” is found in 1174–76.[3] Proportions were expressed by sor le cent (13th century), replaced by pour cent (1538); à cent pour cent “completely” dates from 1924.[3][4] As “a great number” it appears in faire les cent pas and les quatre cents coups, and the challenge je vous le donne en cent is in Scarron (1647).[4][10] Les Cent-Jours, Napoleon's return in 1815, is found in Balzac (1824).[4] Centime was created in 1793 on the model of décime.[4]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Passion of Clermont.[3]
  • c. 1040 – “A great number”, Vie de saint Alexis.[3]
  • 1243 – As an ordinal in a date.[3]
  • 1538 – Pour cent.[3]
  • 1647 – Je vous le donne en cent.[10]
  • 1793 – Centime.[4]
  • 1824 – Les Cent-Jours.[4]
  • 1924 – À cent pour cent.[4]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. A hundred: cent euros, deux cents mètres, deux cent dix.[2][11][1]
  2. A great many: je te l'ai dit cent fois, faire les cent pas, faire les quatre cents coups.[12][4]
  3. (ordinal) Hundredth: page cent, l'an deux cent.[2][3]

Noun

  1. The number one hundred; a hundred of something: un cent d'œufs.[3][9]
  2. Pour cent: per cent, à cent pour cent, completely.[4]

Word family

  • centaine
  • centime
  • centième
  • pourcentage
  • centuple
  • centurie
  • centurion
  • Latin centum

Usage notes

Cent takes an ⟨s⟩ only when multiplied and not followed by another numeral: deux cents, but deux cent un.[2][11] A separate noun cent (pronounced /sɛnt/) is the hundredth of a dollar, borrowed from American English in 1835 (earlier in 1798), and of a guilder, from Dutch; for the hundredth of a euro (1996) French says /sɑ̃/ or centime.[6][3][10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 589a
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  12. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse